The invention relates to a process control computer. More particularly, the invention relates to a pulse-frequency driven process control computer which sequentially processes data and control informations as is common in microprocessors. The computer of the invention is primarily suited for the control of industrial machinery and industrial plants.
More and more microprocessors are presently being used to control industrial machinery and plants, since they operate rapidly and offer the advantage that the control thereof may easier be influenced and altered via the program than is the case with stationary mechanical or electrical hardware control. Furthermore, the components of a microprocessor system are relatively inexpensive, particularly in case of mass production.
In the control of industrial machinery or plants by microprocessors or process control computers, it is desired that operation, that is, programming and data input, be easy and uncomplicated to also enable unskilled personnel to operate the device. The more precise the time sequence of the operation is to be controlled, the more data is commonly to be processed within a shorter time. It is therefore additionally desired that the microprocessor or the process control computer operate very rapidly.